4Gone Home
Gone Home feels at times like a horror. The first time you play, you’re almost expecting something to jump out around every corner. It’s much more simple than that though. Gone Home, one of the best walking simulator games on PS4, puts you in the shoes of Kaitlin. She’s just returned to her family home after being away for a while. Expecting her family to be there to greet her, she’s faced with an empty house. It’s your job to explore, learn more about Kaitlin and her family, and figure out where everyone is.
It’s the little details of Gone Home that make the game stand out; set in the mid 90s, its full of nostalgic nods to our childhoods – VHS recordings, cassette mix tapes, Street Fighter. Through found notes and recordings, Kaitlin pieces together a picture of her family while she’s been away. It’s a very simple game with no major plot twists or turns, but being grounded very much in reality, it’s loaded with emotion and nostalgia – and that alone makes it worthwhile.
